She remembers
What it was like
Before this,
And, that.
When rice pudding was her favorite treat
And family was all she had.

And , she knows
That what was, is not.
And everyone she’s every known
Has gone and flown.
And she tells her to be strong,
Because this is what she wants.

She remembers
Watching her mum mum stare
At a photo of a man she had never known.
A man with a suit
And kind, faithful eyes.
And she wondered, “Who is that?”
She did not learn much
In her years
A fact she regrets again and
Again.

She envies her life
And she knows that one day,
When she is grown
She too will work hard.
And she will make a family,
And perhaps she will find the love
Like her mum mum and the man in the photo.
And when she grows old, she will sit with her grandchildren
And knit them blankets to keep them warm.

She remembers
When it was all taken away
But her love stayed.
We watched by her bed
And she felt something like hope
And confusion as well,
As her mum mum sat calmly in her rest.
She told us not to cry.

The days passed
We were soon called back
Everyone came,
Even jimmy.
And this made her heart swell
At the thought that something bad
Could bring together good.
She remembers still,
How much she loves her.
She wishes with all her might
That her mum mum might know how proud she was
She wants to tell her
But she can’t find the words
So she goes back to the time
When rice pudding was her favorite treat
And family was all she had.